Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Advanced Interface Box for Solar Panels |
Maram Safi Nikhil Sebastian Sydney Li |
Evan Widloski | design_document1.pdf design_document4.pdf final_paper1.pdf photo1.jpg photo2.jpg presentation1.pptx proposal1.pdf |
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| **Team:** Sydney Li [sydneyl3], Maram Safi [msafi2], Nikhil Mathew Sebastian [nikhils4] **Problem:** There are 60 solar panels on top of the ECEB building, currently being used for research, which are not producing any power as of now and can potentially be integrated into the power grid. Additionally, they are not adequately monitored at the moment and this poses a large hazard, especially considering there are no protection interfaces between the panels and their connections to the power inverter. We want to design a smart interface box for these panels to allow for large-scale system behavior and output monitoring, as well as to support panel up-keep, to prevent any potential disasters like fires while also opening the possibility of future integration of these solar panels into other avenues. In previous semesters (FA19), a team of students were able to create an interface which was able to display a **single** panel's voltage and current, but the solution could not be scaled up to interface with multiple panels as is required. This previous solution attempt also now gives us a constrained size which we must utilize to communicate with multiple of these research solar panels. **Solution Overview:** Our solution to monitoring and maintaining the research solar panels is a smart interface box that will interface with **multiple** solar panels to produce a single wireless gateway of panel information that feeds into a visually attractive Research Hub for observation and access to research panel data. The system will be powered from an isolated power supply. The power generated by each monitored solar panel will run through our smart interface box, giving us the ability to detect overvoltage and overcurrent conditions and disconnect individual panels if necessary to prevent hazardous situations. Other features of the box will include reconfigurable tapping to allow users to determine which solar panels themselves are being observed. We will also provide the possibility of manual configuration of solar panels through a wireless interface, allowing users to configure and monitor the solar panel remotely through a server/PC. Finally, LEDs will be used on the box to indicate the dynamic status of panels as well as the interface. As a fail-safe for remote management of the interface being unavailable, the configuration of the interface can also be controlled manually via onboard switches. **Solution Components:** - Switching Subsystem - Contains the ability to reconfigure which sections of the solar panel are being displayed to the wireless interface - Manual Switches - For manual configuration of the interface box in which the wireless service access may be unavailable. The switches on the interface box can configure the solar panels and will be mounted on the enclosure. Most likely done through combinational or sequential logic depending on how much functionality we can implement - LED Display - Displays the current status of information gathered from the panels and distinguishes whether the interface box is active or whether the wireless communication is accessible at the moment. - Thermocouples - Measuring the temperature of the panels in a parallel manner so that a collective combination of data from different panels can be displayed. - Microcontroller - The main processor for our interface box which has functionality such as being able to communicate the data received from the solar panels, shut down its 12V operations or limit any protection from overvoltage/current, and to determine areas in which certain panels may be overheating. Contains an electrical monitoring system to measure the voltage and current of the panels. We plan on displaying additional data beyond that which may include detailed waveforms and power calculations to our display system. - Wireless Microchip - Utilizing a microchip to bring about wifi functionality to push data at high speeds from the interface box to the research hub - Wireless sensor network - In order to scale up the project to have our microprocessor communicate with multiple solar panels, there needs to be a wireless node network. We cannot strictly rely on wiring which communicates one panel's information, instead having a range of sensor nodes spatially dispersed to monitor and record the conditions of each individual solar panel which help bring in collective data to our display. - Remote Configuration Portal - An external system will be set-up with two-way communication with the box’s wireless network capabilities to allow for easy managing of the solar panels. Only authorized ECEB personnel will have access to this portal and it is intended for internal use, so the interface will be secured as such. The focus will be less the visualization of the data and more on porting the in-box button and switch capabilities to a remote setting for usage. Relevant data can be stored in a database, and a python-based framework will be able to extract and transmit commands, while JavaScript/Java can also be used to build up the framework. REST API can be utilized for the back-and-forth communication stream. - Visual Display System - An external system that receives panel-specific data output through the Wireless Interface, and then stores the information in a database for display. Once again, a python-based framework will be able to extract, transmit commands, and display the data, while JavaScript/Java can also be used to build up the framework. REST API can also be used for receiving data. A web-based visualization of the data, with a focus on aesthetics, can then be provided for public display as well as monitoring. Both the database and the GUI will be secured to only allow authorized ECEB personnel to control the data. **Criterion for Success:** 1. With a focus on scaling up to meet the requirements of the solar panels available, we need to be able to interface with at least 10 research solar panels to be successful 2. Interfacing with a solar panel successfully encompasses accurately monitoring its voltage, current, power output, and temperature while simultaneously reporting this data to an external server. _(Higher functionality may include satellite imagery or different interpretations of the data received to determine the power usage during different times throughout the day.)_ 3. Remote Wireless Access towards the panels for the authorized ECEB personnel will be successful when it allows for these personnel to configure the solar panels from an external system 4. A successful interface will also provide a Wireless one-way communication to a visual “Hub” for scaled panel monitoring, providing aesthetic visualizations of panel data for observation as well as for general viewing 5. A successful prototype will also maintain the ability to manually control the interface box with in-box buttons and switches as a fail-safe Our final goal is to have an easy-to-use interface supported by our smart box that allows for accurate and convenient monitoring and up-keep of multiple ECEB research solar panels. We aim to have a prototype that can easily be scaled to meet the entire requirement of available solar panels, and in the end be successfully deployed in the ECEB! |
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